diff --git a/src/mu-msg-sexp.c b/src/mu-msg-sexp.c
index 83e23505..d165532e 100644
--- a/src/mu-msg-sexp.c
+++ b/src/mu-msg-sexp.c
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ static void
 append_sexp_attr_list (GString *gstr, const char* elm, const GSList *lst)
 {
 	const GSList *cur;
-	
+
 	if (!lst)
 		return; /* empty list, don't include */
-	
+
 	g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:%s ( ", elm);
 
 	for (cur = lst; cur; cur = g_slist_next(cur)) {
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ append_sexp_attr_list (GString *gstr, const char* elm, const GSList *lst)
 		g_free (str);
 	}
 
-	g_string_append (gstr, ")\n");	
+	g_string_append (gstr, ")\n");
 }
 
 
@@ -50,12 +50,12 @@ static void
 append_sexp_attr (GString *gstr, const char* elm, const char *str)
 {
 	gchar *esc;
-	
+
 	if (!str || strlen(str) == 0)
 		return; /* empty: don't include */
 
 	esc = mu_str_escape_c_literal (str, TRUE);
-	
+
 	g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:%s %s\n", elm, esc);
 	g_free (esc);
 }
@@ -65,12 +65,12 @@ struct _ContactData {
 	gboolean from, to, cc, bcc;
 	GString *gstr;
 	MuMsgContactType prev_ctype;
-}; 
+};
 typedef struct _ContactData ContactData;
 
 static gchar*
 get_name_addr_pair (MuMsgContact *c)
-{	
+{
 	gchar *name, *addr, *pair;
 
 	name = (char*)mu_msg_contact_name(c);
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ each_contact (MuMsgContact *c, ContactData *cdata)
 {
 	char *pair;
 	MuMsgContactType ctype;
-	
+
 	ctype = mu_msg_contact_type (c);
 
 	/* if the current type is not the previous type, close the
@@ -112,11 +112,11 @@ each_contact (MuMsgContact *c, ContactData *cdata)
 		g_string_append (cdata->gstr, ")\n");
 
 	switch (ctype) {
-	
+
 	case MU_MSG_CONTACT_TYPE_FROM:
 		add_prefix_maybe (cdata->gstr, &cdata->from, "\t:from (");
 		break;
-		
+
 	case MU_MSG_CONTACT_TYPE_TO:
 		add_prefix_maybe (cdata->gstr, &cdata->to, "\t:to (");
 		break;
@@ -128,16 +128,16 @@ each_contact (MuMsgContact *c, ContactData *cdata)
 	case MU_MSG_CONTACT_TYPE_BCC:
 		add_prefix_maybe (cdata->gstr, &cdata->bcc, "\t:bcc (");
 		break;
-		
+
 	default: g_return_val_if_reached (FALSE);
 	}
-	
+
 	cdata->prev_ctype = ctype;
-	
+
 	pair = get_name_addr_pair (c);
 	g_string_append (cdata->gstr, pair);
 	g_free (pair);
-		
+
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
@@ -145,12 +145,15 @@ each_contact (MuMsgContact *c, ContactData *cdata)
 static void
 append_sexp_contacts (GString *gstr, MuMsg *msg)
 {
-	ContactData cdata = { FALSE, FALSE, FALSE, FALSE, gstr,
-			      (unsigned)-1};
-	
+	ContactData cdata;
+
+	cdata.from	 = cdata.to = cdata.cc = cdata.bcc = FALSE;
+	cdata.gstr	 = gstr;
+	cdata.prev_ctype = (unsigned)-1;
+
 	mu_msg_contact_foreach (msg, (MuMsgContactForeachFunc)each_contact,
 				&cdata);
-	
+
 	if (cdata.from || cdata.to || cdata.cc || cdata.bcc)
 		gstr = g_string_append (gstr, ")\n");
 }
@@ -182,12 +185,12 @@ static void
 append_sexp_flags (GString *gstr, MuMsg *msg)
 {
 	FlagData fdata;
-	
+
 	fdata.msgflags = mu_msg_get_flags (msg);
 	fdata.flagstr  = NULL;
-	
+
 	mu_flags_foreach ((MuFlagsForeachFunc)each_flag, &fdata);
-	if (fdata.flagstr) 
+	if (fdata.flagstr)
 		g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:flags (%s)\n",
 					fdata.flagstr);
 	g_free (fdata.flagstr);
@@ -197,7 +200,7 @@ static void
 each_part (MuMsg *msg, MuMsgPart *part, gchar **parts)
 {
 	const char *fname;
-	
+
 	fname = mu_msg_part_file_name (part);
 	if (fname) {
 		char *esc;
@@ -232,15 +235,14 @@ static void
 append_sexp_message_file_attr (GString *gstr, MuMsg *msg)
 {
 	append_sexp_attachments (gstr, msg);
-	
+
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "reply-to",
 				  mu_msg_get_header (msg, "Reply-To"));
 	append_sexp_attr_list (gstr, "references", mu_msg_get_references (msg));
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "in-reply-to",
 			  mu_msg_get_header (msg, "In-Reply-To"));
-	
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "body-txt",
-				  mu_msg_get_body_text(msg));
+			  mu_msg_get_body_text(msg));
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "body-html",
 			  mu_msg_get_body_html(msg));
 }
@@ -260,25 +262,29 @@ append_sexp_thread_info (GString *gstr, const MuMsgIterThreadInfo *ti)
 
 
 char*
-mu_msg_to_sexp (MuMsg *msg, const MuMsgIterThreadInfo *ti, gboolean dbonly)
+mu_msg_to_sexp (MuMsg *msg, unsigned docid, const MuMsgIterThreadInfo *ti,
+		gboolean headers)
 {
 	GString *gstr;
 	time_t t;
 
-	gstr = g_string_sized_new (dbonly ? 1024 : 8192);	
+	gstr = g_string_sized_new (headers ? 1024 : 8192);
 	g_string_append (gstr, "(\n");
-	
+
+	if (docid != 0)
+		g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:docid %u\n", docid);
+
 	append_sexp_contacts (gstr, msg);
-	
+
 	if (ti)
 		append_sexp_thread_info (gstr, ti);
-	
+
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr,
 			  "subject", mu_msg_get_subject (msg));
-	
+
 	t = mu_msg_get_date (msg);
 	/* weird time format for emacs 29-bit ints...*/
-	g_string_append_printf (gstr, 
+	g_string_append_printf (gstr,
 				"\t:date (%u %u 0)\n", (unsigned)(t >> 16),
 				(unsigned)(t & 0xffff));
 	g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:size %u\n",
@@ -286,20 +292,28 @@ mu_msg_to_sexp (MuMsg *msg, const MuMsgIterThreadInfo *ti, gboolean dbonly)
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "message-id", mu_msg_get_msgid (msg));
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "path",	 mu_msg_get_path (msg));
 	append_sexp_attr (gstr, "maildir", mu_msg_get_maildir (msg));
-	
+
 	g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:priority %s\n",
 				mu_msg_prio_name(mu_msg_get_prio(msg)));
-	
+
 	append_sexp_flags (gstr, msg);
-	
-	/* file attr things can only be gotten from the file (ie., mu
-	 * view), not from the database (mu find) */
-	if (!dbonly)
+
+	/* headers are retrieved from the database, views from the message file
+	 *
+	 * file attr things can only be gotten from the file (ie., mu
+	 * view), not from the database (mu find).  */
+	if (!headers)
 		append_sexp_message_file_attr (gstr, msg);
-	
-	g_string_append (gstr, ")\n;;eox\n");	
+
+	/* we register whether this a db-only msg or not; this is
+	 * useful in the UI to know whether this should be considered
+	 * merely a header or a full message */
+	g_string_append_printf (gstr, "\t:msgtype %s\n",
+				headers ? "header" : "view");
+
+	g_string_append (gstr, ")\n;;eox\n");
 
 	return g_string_free (gstr, FALSE);
 }
- 
+